The most played episodes among Podcast App listeners.

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   Number 1: Why Cities Let Addicts Live On the Streets, with journalist Michael Powell

   Meghan's guest this week is journalist Michael Powell, a staff writer at The Atlantic and longtime former New York Times reporter whom she has admired for years for his willingness to report on thorny, third-rail cultural topics. She talked with him about his recent reporting on chronic street homelessness, drug addiction, and the real-world consequences of progressive governance. Specifically, they discussed how the "harm reduction" model plays out in cities like Burlington and Seattle, and why mainstream media newsrooms have become so hesitant to cover complex cultural realities. This conversation covers: The Reality of "Harm Reduction": How an approach born during the AIDS crisis expanded into policies that enable public fentanyl use while leaving working-class neighborhoods to deal with the fallout. Navigating the "Third Rail" Beat: What Michael learned covering sensitive cultural flashpoints—from campus racial controversies to gender sports eligibility—at The New York Times. Ideology vs. Lived Experience: The disconnect between well-meaning policy rhetoric and the daily struggles of local residents, parents, and small business owners. The Culture of Modern Newsrooms: Why institutional conformity, luxury beliefs, and fear of social media backlash stifle honest journalism—and why independent inquiry matters. Read Michael Powell's writing for The Atlantic: 👉 https://www.theatlantic.com/author/powell-michael 🎙️ About Our Guest Michael Powell is a staff writer at The Atlantic. Prior to joining The Atlantic in 2023, he spent sixteen years at The New York Times, serving as a national reporter, metro columnist, sports columnist, and coverer of cultural "third rail" issues. Before his career in journalism, he worked as a cab driver, doorman, and tenant organizer, and previously reported for The Washington Post, The Bergen Record, and The Burlington Free Press. 🏡 Housekeeping & Links Michael Powell's writing for The Atlantic: 👉 https://www.theatlantic.com/author/powell-michael Join The Club: Become a paid subscriber to The Unspeakeasy on Substack to unlock monthly hangouts for Founding Members. 👉 https://www.theunspeakablepodcast.com Unspeakeasy Retreats: Off-the-record, curated conversations in beautiful settings. Registration for this fall's Small Gathering for Big Ideas in New York's Hudson Valley is now open. 👉 https://tinyurl.com/573a9vnu Meghan's Writing Workshops: Featuring a coed summer Zoom course and a 3-night women's writing retreat in upstate NY this fall. Is one right for you? 👉 https://www.theunspeakablepodcast The Audiobook: Meghan's most recent book, The Catastrophe Hour, is out now. It's narrated by Meghan herself, in case you still haven't heard enough of her voice. 👉 https://tinyurl.com/ystzc5yz

   August 24, 2026·1h 18min
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   Number 2: Can a Republican Zionist Butch Lesbian Get Elected to the West Hollywood City Council? Tanya Tsikanovsky

   Another episode about local politics that's really about so much more. Meghan's guest is Tanya Tsikanovsky, a candidate for West Hollywood City Council. (West Hollywood is part of greater Los Angeles but functions as its own municipality.) Tanya came out at 14 and founded her high school's first Gay-Straight Alliance, was a die-hard liberal Democrat, and later worked on Hillary Clinton's 2016 campaign in Iowa. But everything changed after the attacks of October 7th, 2023, when she says her Zionism cost her friendships, a rec-league invitation, and access to LGBT community spaces. She eventually did something she never could have imagined: registered to vote as a Republican. Now she's entered politics herself. They talk about West Hollywood's small-city politics, why Tanya opposes new bike lanes on Fountain Avenue (a surprisingly contentious issue), the difference between "safety ambassadors" and actual law enforcement, and a West Hollywood care team's success getting an unhoused, mentally ill woman into treatment and housing. They also get into Prop 47, the limits of housing-first policy, and the DSA's growing influence in LA city politics. They close on a topic Meghan's listeners have heard her discuss a lot lately: the seeming intractability of chronic street homelessness, including animal abuse and neglect on Skid Row and in other encampments around the city. Want to support the show and join our off-the-record community hangouts? Become a paid subscriber to The Unspeakeasy on Substack. 👉 https://www.theunspeakablepodcast.com 🏡 Housekeeping & Links Visit Tanya Tsikanovsky's YouTube channel. 👉 https://www.youtube.com/@Highlyjewish Follow Tanya Tsikanovsky on social media @HighlyJewish or learn more about her campaign online. 👉 https://tanyaforchange.org Join The Club: Become a paid subscriber to The Unspeakeasy on Substack to unlock monthly hangouts for Founding Members. 👉 https://www.theunspeakablepodcast.com Unspeakeasy Retreats: Off-the-record, curated conversations in beautiful settings. Registration for this fall's Small Gathering for Big Ideas in New York's Hudson Valley is now open. 👉 https://tinyurl.com/573a9vnu Meghan's Writing Workshops: Featuring a coed summer Zoom course and a 3-night women's writing retreat in upstate NY this fall. Is one right for you? 👉 https://www.theunspeakablepodcast The Audiobook: Meghan's most recent book, The Catastrophe Hour, is out now. It's narrated by Meghan herself, in case you still haven't heard enough of her voice. 👉 https://tinyurl.com/ystzc5yz

   September 09, 2026·1h 23min
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   Number 3: Evan Barker on Nothing Left, the Dark Art of Political Fundraising, and the Fracturing Left

   Meghan's guest this week is Evan Barker, a former progressive operative, fundraising strategist, and author of Nothing Left: Confessions of a Democratic Operative. Meghan was eager to sit down with Evan after following her journey from a working-class Midwestern Obama campaign volunteer to a high-powered consultant who ultimately grew disillusioned with the modern Democratic machine. Together, they pull back the curtain on what actually goes on inside campaign "call time," how wealthy donor advisors hijacked progressive priorities, and why the party's relentless focus on identity politics alienated the very working-class voters it claims to represent. In this conversation, they dive into: The Brutal Reality of Political "Call Time": What it's like to sit beside candidates for eight hours a day begging billionaires for cash, using psychological tricks, and maneuvering past corporate gatekeepers. How Identity Politics Captured the Donor Base: How wealthy donors, young staffers, and ideological consultants created race-based funding mandates and cultural litmus tests that backfired across the country. Behind the Scenes at the DNC Spectacle: Evan's bizarre encounters chaperoning TikTok influencers, dodging Chicago vasectomy vans, and realizing the party's messaging was completely detached from everyday economic strain. Marrying MAGA Populism with Bernie Sanders Economics: Why a working-class party offering real health reform alongside common-sense border control could dominate American politics—if the two-party monopoly ever allows it. Grab Evan's book Nothing Left: Confessions of a Democratic Operative and check out her work: 👉 https://www.evanbarker.net 🎙️ About Our Guest Evan Barker is an author, political strategist, and former Democratic campaign operative. Raised in a union family in the Midwest with a rare genetic lung condition, she got her start in politics volunteering for Barack Obama's 2008 campaign before rising through the ranks to direct high-dollar fundraising for progressive candidates across the country. A first-generation college graduate, she served as a director at the campaign consulting firm Left Rising, raising millions of dollars before publicly breaking with the progressive movement. She is the author of Nothing Left: Confessions of a Democratic Operative. 🏡 Housekeeping & Links Connect with Evan Barker: Grab a copy of her book Nothing Left and check out her latest writing. 👉 https://www.evanbarker.net Join The Club: Become a paid subscriber to The Unspeakeasy on Substack to unlock monthly hangouts for Founding Members. 👉 https://www.theunspeakablepodcast.com Unspeakeasy Retreats: Off-the-record, curated conversations in beautiful settings. Registration for this fall's Small Gathering for Big Ideas in New York's Hudson Valley is now open. 👉 https://tinyurl.com/573a9vnu Meghan's Writing Workshops: Featuring a coed summer Zoom course and a 3-night women's writing retreat in upstate NY this fall. Is one right for you? 👉 https://www.theunspeakablepodcast.com The Audiobook: Meghan's most recent book, The Catastrophe Hour, is out now. It's narrated by Meghan herself, in case you still haven't heard enough of her voice. 👉 https://tinyurl.com/ystzc5yz

   August 10, 2026·1h 3min
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   Number 4: When Wokeness Stops Working: Brendan O'Neill's VIBE SHIFT signals a new era

   Meghan's guest this week is British journalist and author Brendan O'Neill, chief political writer at Spiked and author of Vibe Shift: The Revolt Against Wokeness, Greenism and Technocracy. Brendan talks about what he sees as a growing "vibe shift" away from elite consensus and toward something like common sense—though not without its own distortions. He and Meghan discuss the UK's role in pushing back on gender ideology (aka "TERF Island"), the uneasy state of free speech on both sides of the Atlantic, and why ordinary people seemed to tolerate cultural excesses until they suddenly didn't. They also touch on the rise of unserious, meme-driven politics, the infantilization of public discourse (with Greta Thunberg as an emblematic if also profoundly dysfunctional figure), and the strange convergence of hectoring moralism on one side and gleeful nihilism on the other. Finally, Brendan reflects on his own journey from revolutionary communist to free speech absolutist, and why he thinks we may be inching slowly back toward a politics grounded less in identity and more in reality. Guest Bio; Brendan O'Neill is the chief political writer at Spiked and host of The Brendan O'Neill Show. He's also the author of several books, including Anti-Woke, A Duty to Offend, A Heretic's Manifesto, and most recently, Vibe Shift: The Revolt Against Wokeness, Greenism and Technocracy.

   April 27, 2026·1h 7min
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   Number 5: The Truth About Street Homelessness

   This week's guest is Estela Lopez, Executive Director of the LA Downtown Industrial Business Improvement District, which encompasses Los Angeles's Skid Row. With 25 years on the job and a lifetime in the neighborhood, Estela is one of the most clear-eyed, unsparing voices when it comes to what homelessness actually looks like at the ground level. In this conversation, she and Meghan talk about how a thriving industrial district became the nation's most concentrated homeless encampment, why Estela sees this less as a homelessness crisis than a lawlessness crisis, and how the open-air drug economy makes every other intervention nearly impossible. They also talk about the limits—and often the folly—of harm reduction policy, how COVID chaos led to the collapse of enforcement, and what the "housing first" approach gets wrong.

   April 07, 2026·1h 17min
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